By ARIEL COHEN
Published: Feb. 5, 2009 at 12:50 PM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) — As the dust over the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war settles, the extent of Russia's geopolitical gain in South Caucasus and the Black Sea is becoming clearer.
Besides the naval base in the Abkhazian port of Ochamchire, of which we wrote recently, Moscow intends to restore the former Soviet air base Bombora in the Gudauta district of Abkhazia.
This is the largest military airfield in the southern Caucasus, boasting a runway that is 4 kilometers long. The runway ends less than 100 meters from the sea, allowing aircraft to take off at very low altitudes over the sea and proceed undetected by enemy radar in the initial phases of flight.
In the Soviet times, Gudauta — Bombora — air base could accommodate all types of military aircraft, including fighter jets, close air support and heavy military transport. The air base used to host a separate paratroops regiment and was among the first air bases to receive the Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets (NATO designation Flanker). Sukhoi fighters also operated out of Bombora against Georgian attack aircraft and helicopters in the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhaz war. At that time, the Russian military ran the base.
In 1999, acting upon Georgia's demands, Moscow committed to withdrawing from the Gudauta base. In 2001 it declared that it had done so — a claim Tbilisi has contested continually. According to Gazeta.ru, the Abkhazian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indirectly confirmed the presence of Russian aircraft in Gudauta after the alleged withdrawal.
In the recent 2008 conflict, Russian airborne troops landed in Bombora to fight the Georgian army in western Georgia.
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